Samuel seed



(No Model.)

S. SEED. Splicing Masts and Ship Timbers Patented Sept. 7, 1880.

MM i 1 i h i W UNITED STATES PATENT OFEIcE.

SAMIIEL SEED, OF PORTSMOUTH, VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF OF HIS RIGHT TO JOHN IV. SHARREI, OF SAME PLACE.

SPLICING MASTS AND SHIP-TIMBERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 231,974, dated September '7, 1880.

Application filed June 2.), 1880. (No model.)

To all whom itmay concern:

'Be it known that I, SAMUEL SEED, a citizen of the United States, residing at Portsmouth, in the county of Norfolk and State of Virginia,

have invented anew and useful Improvement in Splicing Masts and other Ship-Timbers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, and

letters of reference marked thereon, forminga part of this specification, in which drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of my said improvement applied to two pieces of timber of round form, and intended to constitute a :5 portion of the mast of a ship or other vessel, the same being ready to be joined together, as indicated in Fig. 2. Fig. 2is a perspective view ol' the two pieces of timber spliced together, which in Fi .1 are shown separated. Fig. Sis

a central longitudinal vertical section of Fig. 2. Fig. A is a cross-section in the line so as of Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 is an end view of one of the splieepieces.

The nature of my invention consists in so splicing or uniting separate pieces of timber to form the mast of a ship or other vessel that when spliced together they shall constitute a length of timber of the same strength, or nearly so, as would be the case were the entire length 0 made of a single or unspliced piece of timber.

The object of my invention is to utilize short lengths of timber in order to make long masts for ships, kecls for ships, and other construetions requiring long lengths of timber.

3 5 In the drawings, A and A indicate two separate lengths of timber which it is desirable to unite together and so form a length sufficient for the mast of a ship, and both pieces A and A are made with like parts, which, when brought into proper j uXtaposition, as indicated in Figs. 2, 3, and 4., effect the splicing or unitin g together of the separate lengths or pieces A and A. In other words, each piece A and A is made with a half-splice having like parts,

5 which, when brought together, as signified in Fig. 2, etlect the splicing of the two parts together.

In forming the half-splices on the pieces A A one-half of the body of the wood is cut away within the compass of the length of the halfsplices, as shown, so as to leave an angular or dovetail tongue, as at 13, with a longitudinal bearing-surface, a, which is exactly the longitudinal center of said pieces, and midway of the length of these half-splices a transverse key-seat, a, is made in order to receive akey,

(0 one halt of the circumference of which has its seat in the piece A, and its other like half in the piece A, thereby locking the two pieces together when said pieces are adjusted in position and thekey inserted, as indicated in Figs.

2 and 3.

On either side of the ten gueB the half-splices represented on each of the pieces A and A are formed with sloping faces, as at I), the whole length of each half-splice, and these sloping faces abut from end to end against each other when the two pieces A and A are brought together, as signified in Figs. 2 and 3. Forward of the half-round key-seats a the tongues B are formed with inwardly-inclined or angular sides, as at a (clearly shown in Figs. land 5,) while rearward from seats a to the rear termination of the half-splices grooves with outwardly-inclined sides, as clearly shown in Fi 5, at B, are formed, which are exactly adapted to receive and fit the tongues B, respectively, of the pieces A and A when said pieces are in juxtaposition, as signified in Figs.2 and 3, the bottom of said grooves B and the bearing-surfaces a of the tongues B being of the same width and on the same plane in each of the two pieces A and A.

In Fig. 3 the dotted line b indicates theline of junction of the sloping surfaces b of the two pieces A and A when joined together, and said figure also shows overhanging shoulders, as at f and f, which overlap the respective beveled ends f of the pieces A A when joined together, as in Figs. 2 and 3. It will thus be 0 seen that when the piece A is turned over'so that its tongue B will rest upon the tongue 13 of the piece A, and the two pieces then forced or slid together, such act will cause the tongue B of the piece A to enter the ,QQIOOXTB B of 5 piece A, while at the same time the tongue B of piece A will enter the groove B of piece A and that when said pieces are fully forced together, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 8, the respective parts of the half-splice on pieces A and A will become both longitudinally and laterally united with beveled and dovetail bearing-surfaces adjoining each other, and in which position the said pieces are finallylocked 5 bythe insertion of the locking-pin a as shown, and, further, that when so locked said pieces can neither have longitudinal nor transverse play independent of each other, and that such result is effected solely by reason of the forma- IO tion of the half-splices in connection with the locking-pin, which latter may be made either of wood or of metal.

I claim- 1. Two pieces of timber, A and A, each be- I 5 ing provided with a half-splice having sloping In presence of JOSHUA BROWN, J OHN W. SHARRETT, Jr. 

